What is This Feeling?
by Cielesia
Summary: When Diana meets an old friend of Akko's, the tension becomes immediately palpable, and poor Akko is completely clueless as to why.
1. An Old Friend

_Chapter 1: An Old Friend_

* * *

Crepes are delicious; never let anyone tell you otherwise. Sure, crepes were not my favorite food in the world – that honor had to go to pickled plums – but it was up there with apple tarts and that fancy bread I had at Diana's place that one time. I mean, how could anyone resist a good crepe? Crepes are low in calories, pass my taste test, and are usually good for your health.

Well, the one I was currently munching on probably wasn't going to do my glucose levels any favors. Biting into a pastry that had twenty dollops of whipped cream and a crap ton of chocolate, I found I didn't really care. Licking the chocolate coating my lips as I pulled the crepe away from my face, I thought to myself, _'Ah, what could be sweeter than a good crepe?'_

"Diana," I said, setting my crepe down to properly address the girl in front of me. Dabbing at her lips with a handkerchief, Diana shot me a questioning look, eyes narrowed, one brow raised. I used to be intimidated by that stare, but after everything Diana and I have been through together, I knew there was nothing accusatory coming from the Englishwoman: just curiosity. "You enjoying your crepe?"

"Yes, it is quite decadent," she replied, her lips curling into a soft smile I was starting to see more and more ever since the Noir missile crisis a while back. I returned the smile as she continued, "The use of crème Fraiche instead of normal cream was a notable addition that really brought the whole pastry together."

"Uh, ' _kuremu_ _fureshu_ '? Is that still English?"

"It's a kind of sour cream, from my understanding," Diana explained, taking her typical lecturing pose: hand on her elbow as she used the other to gesture around with whatever pointing implement she had on hand – usually it was her wand, while this time it was a teaspoon she had used to stir her coffee.

While I'm not sure why I started to notice her smiles more, I'm pretty sure I know why her lecturing pose was burned into my retinas. After the missile crisis, Diana started lending me a hand with my studies. While she had recognized that Sucy and Lotte had _Fundamentals of Magic Pharmaceutics_ and _History of Magic_ covered, Diana wanted to see my grades in my other classes improve too, so whenever Professor Ursula wasn't giving me supplementary lessons, Diana would fill in.

I don't know how she found the time to tutor me, especially since Hannah and Barbara kept subtly taking jabs at how much of Diana's time I was wasting, but Diana never complained. Still, sometimes I felt bad about monopolizing her time, which is why-

"Anyway," Diana digressed, dusting off the crumbs of the treat, "thank you for treating me to this. I've had a wonderful time with you."

-I wanted to return the favor. "No, thank you! It's because of you that I'm not that far behind anymore. Professor Finnelan even complimented me the other day during _Magic Linguistics_ class!"

"With all due respect to Professor Finnelan, I hardly consider 'You didn't mess it up this time' as a compliment. While she is an excellent witch, I'm afraid my opinion on her interactions with you is similar to Professor Ursula's: quite lacking in tact."

"Hey, I'll take what I can get," I admitted, trying my best to defend one of the few positive statements I've received from the aging Anne.

Pointedly, Diana said, "I'm sure you do, especially with regards to those tarts you keep stealing."

Suddenly, the mood in the booth Diana and I shared dropped dramatically. I look up to the lights illuminating the quaint café we were staying at. I could have sworn the lighting was warmer – definitely not blue. And I'm pretty confident that I wasn't able to see my breath two seconds ago. My gaze dropped from the lights to the girl in front of me. Her blue eyes were piercing, and I found myself tightening my tunic to cover myself better.

 _'Busted,'_ I remarked to myself, trying and failing to wipe all the sweat from my brow. Someone would have to bring a mop thanks to how much I was sweating.

As Diana took a sip, I tried to defend myself, "I-I was just tired of eating potatoes, that's all. Don't you ever get tired of them?"

"While I can empathize with your stance," Diana admitted, putting down her cup, "I disagree with your means. I'm going to have to ask you to cease your weekly kitchen pillaging."

"I am a growing girl, and a girl needs her food!" I objected, holding my hand seven centimeters above my head: the height difference between Diana and I. I didn't wanna be short forever, dammit! "How else am I supposed to catch up!"

"A tart wouldn't give you all the necessary nutrients required for growth, Akko," Diana shot back, knocking my argument aside. I made sure to puff my cheeks out of exaggerated indignation. Maybe that'll get her to soften her stance. Seeing my expression, she closed her eyes and sighed. "I did not want to have to resort to this; however, I see no other alternative. If you continue to make the lives of the kitchen staff harder, I'll just have to cease our tutoring sessions."

My heart ceased. "But Diana-"

"Oh my goodness, Akko?" I heard a familiar voice say to my left. I turned to face the source, and I was instantly assaulted by a wave of nostalgia. It had only been a year since junior high, but it felt like eons since I've seen the girl standing in front of Diana and me. Blue hair, square-framed glasses, slightly timid posture; it had to be-

"Minne? Is that you?" I said, managing to push back my shock.

"The one and only," she replied, pointing finger guns at me. I shot some right back at her.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm an exchange student. I'll be staying in south-west England for a whole month! I can't believe that the school you mentioned a year ago was around this area!"

Abandoning my crepe on the table, I shot up from my seat and wrapped my arms around her. Ah, how I missed this. It's been so long since I've been able to just give her a good ol' glomp and rub cheeks with this girl… except it was more like me rubbing my temple against her cheekbone instead.

"Wait a minute, you're taller than me!" I exclaimed, loosening my vice grip on my friend enough to be able to get a good look at her. Running my eyes over her, I confirmed my worst fear; Minne left me behind! "No fair! You're like a whole forehead above me now. I can't believe you've changed so much in a year."

"Eh? You're the one who's changed so much. Look at you; you're a witch, Akko!" she replied as she raised a hand to the brim of my hat. My head suddenly felt cold as she whisked it off my head, placing it on her own. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Y-you look just like my Magic Philosophy classmate," I managed to choke out between giggles. I wasn't wrong; she had the same blue short hair and fair complexion as Gaelle, though I don't think Minne would literally bury her head in her notes like the German girl. Not to disparage Minne; from what I could remember, she had a very rigorous study regimen, just like-

"Diana," I said. I let go of the blue haired girl and spun on my heel to face the blonde. For some reason, she looked absolutely livid: nose upturned, eyes narrowed, and overall dismissive, just like the time I accidentally got all of her notes for _Magic Law_ wet. Maybe if I shot back with enough cheer, her stern expression would crumble. I flashed her a smile that could light up a room and continued, "Is there something wrong?"

"Oh, no, nothing wrong in particular," Diana waved off, though nothing about her softened. She was definitely still mad at me, and I still didn't know why. "Please, continue your previous conversation with your friend."

Friend… oh, so maybe I broke some kind of etiquette rule by not introducing her to Minne?

"Oh, I totally forgot! Diana, this," I started, snatching back my hat, "is Mitsune Yagami – Minne for short. She's a friend I've known since junior high. Minne, this is Diana Cavendish, a friend from Luna Nova who I owe a ton to."

"Yeah, I saw her on TV with you when then nine of you took down that rampant missile a while back," Minne said, a hand of hers rubbing the back of her neck out of uneasiness. "I'm not sure what they teach you there over at your school, but I'm surprised that they let their students into that kind of danger."

"I'm surprised at how good your English is," Diana said, her condescending tone reminding me of my first days at Luna Nova when I saw her as a rival and she saw me as an annoyance. I pursed my lips. I wasn't sure why, but it seemed that Diana wasn't very fond of Minne.

Minne didn't seem to like Diana very much either if the frown on her face was any evidence. I found my lips curling into a similar frown too. I would have never expected this much disdain between two people who had known each other for only five minutes: well, aside from the looks Hannah, Barbara, and Avery shot me at the leyline on my first day at Luna Nova.

Minne continued, "Our previous school prepped us for jobs in English-speaking sectors since I wanted to become a United Kingdom diplomat, while Akko-"

"Yes, I'm aware of Akko's dream," Diana interjected, shooting Minne a smirk. She clasped her hands under her chin, propping it upon them. "I'm trying to help her achieve it, after all. I assure you, Miss Yagami, that Akko and I work very closely together on such matters."

Okay, this was getting a bit out of hand. I had to act before they caused a scene or something. "Guys- "

Luckily enough, Minne checked her watch, saying, "Well, I'm out of time. Gotta go run errands for my foster family. Before I go: Akko, are you free tomorrow? I'd love to catch up with you!"

"Hm," I hummed, grateful that Minne seemingly dropped whatever beef she had with Diana. Now to think about her offer. Well, it was a Sunday tomorrow, so unless Sucy were to slip me something as I slept and took me out of commission, I should be able to go. "Yeah, I'm free the whole day. What do you have in mind?"

I saw Minne turn to the bar of the café we were at, watching as patrons sipped on their mugs of coffee. "Coffee at ten?"

"Sure!" I sat back down as Minne left, a smile on my face. On the other hand, when I turned around to face Diana, all I could see was a grimace. "Mou, you've been in a bad mood ever since Minne came along."

The blonde witch's brow furrowed. "I agree that it isn't very rational to hold disdain towards someone within the first minute of meeting them, but there is just something I find off-putting about her."

"I-I don't understand," I admitted, confused.

"The way she looks at you, the way she holds you," Diana growled as she stood up, leaving a quid on the table we were sitting at. As I shot up to follow, she looked at me from over her shoulder. "It isn't like how Lotte or Sucy do it."

* * *

 **Hi. A few things I wanted to note:**

 **1\. This story was prompted by a picture of Akko in her junior high uniform with her arm slung over the shoulders of a blue haired girl who had the same uniform. That along with the fan drawing that accompanied that screenshot led to me writing this story. For those curious, you can find that picture here:** **/kitten_crow/status/942037235121111041**

 **2\. I have no idea what the canon name of Akko's friend is, so I just fumbled one up. I chose Mitsune because I wanted her nickname - Minne - to match the way Atsuko formulated hers. I also wanted a name to relate to Diana's in some way, so I picked Yagami, written with the kanji for god, which should line up with Diana's, which means "heavenly".**

 **3\. This is my first ever Little Witch Academia fic, so I'll need a lot of feedback concerning the personalities of the characters, especially Akko and Diana. I'm a little concerned that I'm not making Akko cheerful enough, or that I'm doubling down on Diana's cold side a bit too much.**

 **4\. It's been a while since I've written from the first person perspective, which may have been a mistake since I feel I don't have a solid grasp of Akko's character yet. Hopefully, nothing egregious arose from this decision.**

 **5\. This will be a three chapter story, and I have a feeling that the second one will be the longest. However, I do not have an ETA for when that drops, so I hope what was written so far is enough to satiate you guys for now.**

 **Until next time.**

 **EDIT (Jan 2, 2018): Changed some of the wording. Nothing consequential in terms of plot was touched.**


	2. A Cup of Coffee

_Chapter 2: A Cup of Coffee_

* * *

My friends didn't like each other, and it hurt.

I didn't expect Diana and Minne to meet anytime soon, but when I imagined it in my mind, I thought they'd hit it off from the start. After all, Diana was usually super polite and Minne was down to earth… even though Diana put me off the first few months I knew her and Minne tended to get offended by strangers extremely easily.

Okay, so they weren't destined to be peas in a pod, but I would have settled for some civility. I may not have been the brightest witch in the room – not yet, mind you – but I definitely got the vibe that they were at each other's throats. I just couldn't wrap my mind around the reason why.

Oh well, the most important issue at the moment was to reconcile my friend from Japan and my friend from Luna Nova, so it was time to "concoct" some "juvenile delinquency", as Professor Finnegan would put it. I probably wasn't going to be able to do that without some help, so I crossed my fingers and hoped that Lotte and Sucy wouldn't outright hate Minne for seemingly no reason.

The moment we returned to Luna Nova, I gave Diana a quick goodbye and made a beeline for my dorm room. Once I arrived, I burst through the door. Unlike every other time I performed my Dynamic Entry (patent pending), I didn't receive wide stares or not-so-silent grumbling. Lotte, head buried in a Nightfall volume, just looked up and gave me an acknowledging nod before diving back into her novel. Sucy did even less. She just grunted, not even bothering to turn around and look at me as she worked at her little alchemy lab.

"Guys, I really need your help!" I said, tearing apart my whole setup underneath Lotte's bunk in order to find the notebook that held all of my plans. For a while, the only things that came up from my rifling were junk. Socks I forgot to toss into the laundry, vials that I don't remember ever owning, a funnel I don't remember ever seeing…

"What did you do this time, Akko?" Sucy finally responded, though what she said didn't really give me the shot of confidence I was looking for.

What _did_ give me a burst of energy was the notebook I clutched in my hand. I hopped in my chair, whipped out a pen, and started scribbling out my ideas to reunite my two friends. "I didn't do _anything_ , I swear. This isn't my fault!"

"For once," Sucy said. Her smile grew as a puff wafted out of her flask, though her tone remained deadpan.

"What happened?" Lotte interjected, and from below, I could hear the sound of a book slamming shut. "Did your date with Diana not go according to plan?"

"One: that wasn't a date," I said, scrambling to finalize the plan so I could bounce it off of Lotte and Sucy. "Two: she had a great time. For the most part, anyway."

"So you _did_ do something."

"I'm telling you, it wasn't me!" I reached up for the sole picture frame I had in my area of the room. Y'know, after some thinking, I realized it was a little weird that I had a framed picture of Minne and not a framed picture of my parents. Then again, I only had space in my bag for one frame, and Minne had been pretty insistent at the time that I take a picture of her. Still, something felt wrong to me.

Pushing those thoughts aside, I raised up the photo, and I felt Lotte take it from my hand. "You remember who that is, right?"

"Um, I forgot her name, but this is your best friend from your middle school, right?" Lotte said, and I saw the frame gently float towards the desk Sucy sat at. Finally looking away from her experiment, Sucy reached out for the picture and gave it a glance.

"Bingo!" I said, jumping off the bed. Plans were made, so now it was time to present.

Floating the frame back into its original position with the flick of a wand, Sucy asked, "So why'd you bring her up?"

"Long story short, me and Diana ran into her earlier, and they kinda rubbed each other the wrong way. That rubs me the wrong way, so we gotta fix it!"

Sucy said, "And now we're roped into more Akko hijinks. Woohoo."

"Anyway," I continued, brushing her off, "Minne asked me to meet her at the same café tomorrow so we can catch up, and since I don't know when her sched's gonna free up again, this is the best time to get Diana and her to at least be civil towards each other. I think that, instead of me showing up to the café tomorrow, Diana will go in my place!"

Two frowns pop up. Not very comforting. In response, my mouth curled into a frown too.

"Well, first of all, how are you going to get Diana to appear at the café?" Lotte asked, closing her eyes in concentration as she joined the brainstorming bandwagon. "She probably knows about your little appointment with Minne, so she'd avoid the café like the plague."

Soft cackling came from Sucy as her frown slowly grew into a manic grin. "That can be arranged."

"And even if you do manage to trick her into meeting Minne, this plan probably won't work," Lotte said, probably not comfortable with the idea of Sucy slipping Diana one of her little presents. I wasn't comfortable with it either. "They'll just look at each other and walk away if they didn't have any reason to interact, which they don't."

Welp. Lotte got me. A grimace on my face, I scribbled a harsh X on the little outline of events found in my notebook. Still, I wasn't going to be stopped by such a minor bump in the road! A few seconds later, I had something else written down in kanji that looked more like chicken scratches than elegant strokes, but I was beyond caring about the presentation of my work. I had a friendship to save!

"Okay, I got an idea." I said, "What if I become their reason to interact? If I go to meet Minne with Diana, maybe I can steer the conversation and help the two reconcile their differences."

I conveniently made sure to leave out that I had no idea what differences they had. That was still a work in progress. Meh, well laid out plans were for squares anyway. This girl over here preferred to be flexible.

Once again, Lotte started to rein me in. "Wasn't the whole point of your thing with Minne to catch up with her? I think she'd be hurt if you took another friend, especially someone she didn't like, to your little reunion."

"And that's off the list," I said, crossing out the plan the same way I crossed out the earlier one: angrily. Frustration successfully vented into the deep black strokes hiding the failed plan from view, I tried to think hard about what I could do to help those two. There _had_ to be a feasible way to get those two together.

I looked at my two roommates. A finger tapping her chin, Lotte looked just as focused as me, and even though Sucy liked to pretend she didn't care much, I could see her making almost zero progress with her experiment. These guys have got my back. With their help, I could definitely save this relationship!

Something sparked in my head. The plan that popped up wasn't that different from the other two. In fact, I was surprised I hadn't thought of it earlier. Still, deep in my heart, I truly believed that it had a shot at working. Believing's my brand of magic, right?

"Okay, I got an idea."

* * *

I was early. It was only half past nine, but I didn't want to risk being late, so even if punctuality wasn't my strong suit, I had to shrug off my morning drowsiness in order for the plan to go smoothly.

I took a sip of my coffee. While Diana preferred her coffee black since she drank it mostly for the caffeine, I wouldn't have been surprised if the drink I had in my hands was fifty percent milk. I just didn't like the bitterness, though I supposed it helped keep people up.

What kept me up was going over the plan in my head. Like I mentioned earlier, it was a relatively simple one, and if everything went swimmingly, Diana and Minne would be laughing arm in arm like old pals. Okay, Diana didn't seem the type to do that, but you get the point.

I heard a ring. My red eyes darted towards the door, and they met another crimson pair: Minne's. They held a lot of mirth that I didn't get to see yesterday, and I couldn't stop the smile that grew on my face.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting long," Minne said, sliding into the booth. On my side. Now shoulder to shoulder with the girl, I found her seating choice a little weird. Sure, when I was with a group of friends back in Japan, me and Minne could always be found glued together, but whenever we went out, just the two of us, she always sat across me. Oh well, it was probably just me misremembering.

"What do you mean, silly? It's only nine forty," I replied, taking another sip of my coffee to calm my nerves a bit. Well, it was time to execute the plan.

Step one: improve Minne's opinion on Diana through conversation. This was basically a setup for one of the later steps since for that step to work, I needed her opinion on Diana to at least return to neutral. I wasn't very good at doing this kind of wordplay – that was more up Andrew's alley – but I was going to have to wing it for both of their sakes.

"I'll go get coffee. See you in a bit," Minne said, getting up from my side as she started to walk towards the counter. Left to my thoughts, I had to think about how to slip complements into our conversations. I took a long sip of my drink, hoping that it would somehow inspire me.

Before inspiration struck, Minne returned with two steaming mugs of coffee. Looked like how I'd order them. Sliding back into her spot next to me, she said, "Here, my treat."

"Thanks," I replied, gulping down the last of my coffee and nudging it to the side. Minne, giving me a smile as warm as the mugs she was holding, slid a cup o' joe into my hands, and I couldn't help but notice the way her fingers lingered on the back of my hand a split second longer than they needed to. I kept quiet about it, however, because of step 2.

I needed to raise Diana's opinion on Minne too. Thinking about the second step, I struggled not to sneak a peek out the window towards the bush where all the spectators - Sucy, Lotte, Diana, and the entire green team, I guessed - were eavesdropping from. I also had to resist the urge to rub the back of my neck, since I had Conz place a mic there in order to record the audio of my conversation with Minne. Hopefully, through Minne's own actions and words, she'll show off her good side to everyone, including Diana.

Well, at least I hoped Diana was there. It was up to the others to rope Diana into joining in on the spying.

"You're welcome, Akko," Minne said. "You know, I missed stuff like this. Just hanging out, you and me."

"Yeah, I missed it too," I said wistfully. While my main objective of the day was to reconcile my two friends, I couldn't help but think back to my schooling in Japan with heartfelt nostalgia. Sure, none of them really got why I was super into magic, but they were supportive, helping me perfect my English so I wouldn't be completely out of water when I got into a school based in England. "How are they?"

"We're all a bunch of dorks, just like always," Minne replied, her relaxed posture mirroring mine effortlessly. "I'm still in love with British history, Senna is all gung-ho about that Night Fall stuff, and Tammi is still the grade A student."

"Ah, Tatsumi. I remember how he'd always pretend to be annoyed whenever I'd ask him to clarify something for the millionth time, but he'd explain it anyway all enthusiastically."

"That reminds me," Minne said, her voice adopting a drop more concern than it had previously, "how are your studies? Sure, you did some kind of amazing magic when you were fending off that missile, but I can't help but be concerned. If it wasn't for our study session intervention last year, Mr. Kitano would've-"

"While I'm still super grateful for the help, please don't bring that up," I groaned. I could just picture the snicker coming from Sucy. "Putting that awful History class aside, my grades are okay."

The smug grin on Minne's face said a thousand words. "Oh really?"

"Okay, I had some help," I admitted. I was met with even more smugness. "Fine, I had a lot of help. I have remedial class twice a day, and after that, my friends help tutor me too."

"The more things change, the more they stay the same, I guess," Minne said, reaching out to pinch my cheek. I winced as she stretched it like taffy. "So who are these friends of yours? Sometimes we get info from your parents, but we never get much. Just snippets. I put money towards the orange haired girl being the one helping you out."

"Oh, Lotte? Sure, she does tutor me a bit, but Diana helps out the most."

"Cavendish?" I noticed a lot of her glee petered out. I had totally underestimated how much she didn't like Diana. To deflate just at the mention of her name... that wasn't good.

I decided to fight her reluctance with a healthy dose of pep. Flashing a smile, I said, "Yeah! Sure, she has that holier-than-thou vibe going on, so I was kinda off-put when we first met, but she's really sweet when you get to know her."

"Uh, sure."

"I'm being serious," I said. Trying to sell how genuine I was, I placed a hand on hers, which was still wrapped around her still full cup of coffee. "You know, she reminds me a lot of you."

"Really?" Her voice still held doubt, but I could tell her position was softening. I just had to keep pressing on.

"Really!" I repeated, patting the hand that was under mine. "Sure, appearance-wise, you two are completely different, but when you delve deeper, you two are surprisingly similar. I guess you're more down-to-earth than she is, but if I had to sum it up... people look up to you two."

Minne remained silent. I took it as a sign to continue. "You guys are the best at what you do. Diana's magic shocks even the teachers, and you speak English like it's your first language."

Minne opened her mouth, probably to wave off my compliment, but I rushed to stop her, "The thing that I admire most about the both of you is that you two worked hard to get to where you are, and you don't let that success turn you into an ass."

I dropped my smile and withdrew my hand. "That's why I don't understand why you two openly dislike each other. Diana didn't do anything to you, and you didn't do anything to her, and I know the both of you are above petty judgment. If you two aren't going to get along, I want to at least know why."

Minne finally started on her coffee, taking large gulps of the brew. After what felt like three lifetimes, she finally put down her mug, and a quick look told me that she drank the whole thing in one go. Minne said, "I suppose it isn't very rational to hold disdain towards someone within the first minute of meeting them, but there is just something I find off-putting about her."

Eerily similar. I was getting deja vu from yesterday's talk with Diana. "I don't understand."

"It's hard to put into words," Minne said, staring into her empty mug. "Look, next time I see her, I'll try to be more amicable for your sake. She seems important to you."

"You both are."

Time to move to step three!

* * *

 **Hi. Belated New Years. Some notes:**

 **1\. The first person perspective. I was hoping that I wouldn't be too horrible at it, but it turned out kinda meh, with most finding the style weird, sometimes jarring when stuff like tense errors started to crop up. Hopefully I ironed out most of the kinks, though I wouldn't be surprised if I missed a few things.**

 **2\. I really appreciate the feedback I've been getting, and I think I managed incorporated some of your suggestions into this chapter, and I'm not sure when, but I should also go back to the previous chapter and fix that up as well.**

 **3\. I realized that I'm very unfamiliar with Lotte, so I'm afraid she might be a little OOC. Hopefully I didn't ruin her, but oh well.**

 **Please look forward to the next chapter.**


	3. Bittersweet Coffee

_Chapter 3: Bittersweet Coffee_

* * *

I felt elated! For once, my plan seemed to be working! I definitely raised Minne's opinion on Diana, and I'm sure I brought out Minne's good side to Diana as well. Up next was the last step: for them to meet up in person. Now that they like each other, they should be able to kiss and make up once they see each other face to face.

As my eyes glazed over the wares of a random novelty shop Minne dragged me into, I thought about the plan in an effort to ebb away a bit of the anxiety still gripping me. If everything was going well on the Diana side of the plan, then Sucy, Lotte, and the others should currently be dragging a satisfied Diana to lunch at some deli that was on the route I was subtly maneuvering Minne towards.

"Akko." I felt a hand grip my shoulder. I turned my head towards her, almost surprised by how close my Japanese friend was. She held up a wooden carving of a bunny, polished to a sheen. It looked handcrafted; it must have taken a lot of effort and a lot of heart to come up with something so beautiful. For some reason, it reminded me of my magic, and the thought warmed my heart. "Doesn't it look cute?"

"Yeah, it looks great!" I give her a genuine smile. That smile quivered a bit as Minne slid her arm down my shoulder, the gesture tickling me a tad until she held my hand. Her hand was soft, just like the times she held my hand back in middle school, but there was something off. They were clammy too, even though the rest of her didn't seem to sweat. She didn't give me the chance to process why, however, since she raised my hand and placed the bunny in it.

She drew back her hand, her voice softening. "Here. I got you this because it reminds me of you."

"I don't know what to say." I flushed, embarrassed, as I slipped the gift deep into my tunic's pocket. "First the coffee, now random, thoughtful gifts? You haven't spoiled me this much since-"

"Since your sixteenth birthday, yeah." Minne had a look of nostalgia on her face, and I was sure that I had the same look on my face. "It was going to be your last birthday with the gang for a while, so of course we had to go all out."

"Mhm. I still use that coat you gave me."

Minne held the tips of her fingers to her lips, giggling. "Why am I not surprised that it still fits you?"

"Hey," I huffed out of fake frustration, "my height's still a sore point missy!"

"Anyway, Akko," Minne said, our conversation adopting a slightly more serious tone, "Something at another store caught my eye, so I'll mosey on over there."

"Okey-dokey, let's go-"

Minne held up a hand, a sheepish expression gracing her face. "Ah, I want you to stay here. Shopping should only take a few minutes."

Huh. Minne was the type of girl who always wanted to be with her friends. Heck, almost every time we went to hang out, she'd drag either me or Setsuna to the restroom whenever she had to go. It disconcerted me to hear that she wanted to go on without me. "You don't want me to come with you? Kinda weird. You usually aren't like this."

She shot me a cheeky grin in return, and it irked me a bit. It made me realize that Diana should have chucked me out of a window ages ago with the amount of cheek I showed her on a regular basis. "Hi-mi-tsu!"

"Hey, keeping secrets from your best friend isn't fair," I said as I puffed my cheeks. I crossed my arms, hoping to sell how annoyed I was with the blue-haired girl. All she did was stick her tongue out at me.

"Anyway," Minne said, waving goodbye as she stepped out the door, "I'll see you in ten minutes, Akko."

"Alright, alright. See you." I would have talked more banter with her retreating form had I not felt a vibration in my tunic pocket. I reached into it and pulled out a blinking crystal orb. I kind of wished I could use my phone instead, but there were a few issues with that. Sucy was like a hundred times better at not catching Diana's attention than Lotte, so she was my designated messenger. However, Sucy didn't own a cell phone, so we had to make do otherwise. That's the reason a rather large ball was pressed against my side. Holding the huge hunk of glass, I tapped it, opening Sucy's message.

"Diana's here. Go to the deli. You know which one."

"Wonderful," I pecked out onto the orb's "screen" if you could even call it that. I plopped it back into my tunic pocket and lied in wait for Minne's return.

After what felt was seven dog years' worth of waiting, Minne returned to the novelty shop, though it didn't look like she got anything big since she wasn't carrying any shopping bags, so it had to be something small enough to fit either in her clutch or in her pocket. Hm, I wondered what it was?

...Oh well; it's none of my business.

"Thank goodness you're back! I almost died of hunger!" I said, making a show of clutching my stomach. It seemed like my insides wanted to help me out since my stomach let out a bellowing grumble.

It looked like Minne had a hard time holding back her laughter. With her hands on her sides, her sides were bursting at the seams. "Alright, alright, let's go get some brunch for that black hole of yours."

After walking out of the store - and taking a deep breath of fresh air I was deprived of when we were inside that stuffy novelty store - we started our hunt for lunch, though I made sure to steer us towards that deli Sucy mentioned in her message.

I felt Minne gently swing her hip into mine as we walked. I exaggerated how rebuffed I was, allowing myself to drift a meter away from her. She giggled at my antics, and I gave her a toothy grin in return. "Hey, Akko, what are your other friends like?"

It was going to be a little awkward telling her all about my friends when she was going to meet them in less than three minutes, but it wasn't like I could tell her that. Doing my best to keep their imminent meeting a secret, I looked away and put on what I hoped looked like a pondering look. "Hm, where to start? I guess I'll go with my roommates, Lotte and Sucy."

"Lotte's the orange-haired one, right?" I saw Minne put a finger to her temple - a tic that showed she was wringing out her brain. "And if that picture was of your dorm, then Sucy must be that sullen-looking girl with the grey complexion."

"Bingo. Sucy acts a little creepy sometimes, and Lotte can get too soft-spoken for my taste, but those two have always backed me up, even when the situations I dragged them in were a little selfish."

"They sound like a reliable pair," Minne said, "I'd like a chance to meet them along with Cavendish."

"And it looks like that chance is here," I said, suddenly jerking my head towards where my friends were sitting in order to feign surprise. After a quick count to eight, I realized that the rest of Diana's team was with them. While meeting eight new people was kind of overwhelming, I was sure Minne was outgoing enough to be able to meld with the group unless another "unjustifiable loathing" incident were to occur again. Oh well, a believing heart was my magic, so I had to believe nothing was going to go awry. "They're eating lunch right now! Wanna go join them?"

"Um," Minne said, and you could see the nerves caked onto her face, "I still haven't thought of what to say to Cavendish."

"But this is the perfect chance to talk it out with her!" I said, hoping to appeal to her opportunistic side. It wasn't there all that often - outside of her areas of passion, Minne was more a conservative than someone "lying in wait" - but I had to stoke her flame. Luckily for me, it seemed that she started to see my point.

"Well, we were going to eat lunch anyway, right?" Minne said, taking her first step towards the group. I made sure to follow closely, hoping that my close proximity would give her a bit of extra courage.

As we drew near, I saw Lotte's head shoot up a bit, and she waved me over soon after. The others followed suit soon afterward, greeting the two of us with warm smiles. The only ones that didn't were, unsurprisingly, Diana's trio. Neither Hannah nor Barbara were the type to greet me with anything other than a glance and a nod, so I wasn't too dismayed by them. Diana, on the other hand, was acting a little out of character, her lips pressed into a firm line instead of a smile as she looked back and forth between me and Minne. Sad. She looked so vibrant whenever she'd give me her small grins.

"Room for two?" I said, pulling up a seat next to Amanda, whose smirk could blind. While Amanda had a tendency of stealing small bites and sips of my food and drink, it was better to let Minne sit next to someone less volatile. Said bluenette took the free seat in between me and Lotte. The fact that it meant she had to sit across Diana was pretty sweet too. "I'm surprised you guys got such a huge table. Seems like this place's always full."

"Never underestimate Jasminka's vast amount of culinary connections." Said girl simply took another bite of her foot long. "And thanks to those connections, she's gonna treat us all to lunch! You game?"

Before I could say "Hell yeah!" like I usually did when offered free food, Minne said, "Oh, I was gonna treat Akko."

The talk seemed to die down as everyone heard the sound of Minne's voice, everyone's attention now squarely on her shoulders. The Japanese girl didn't look perturbed by this. "Anyway, my name is Mitsune Yagami. I'm Akko's friend from middle school. It's great to finally get to meet her new friends."

I stepped in and started to introduce everyone to Minne. Eventually, I got to Diana, who had cut me off before I could start and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you once more, Ms. Yagami."

"The pleasure's all mine, Diana," Minne said, finally using Diana's first name for some reason.

"Eh, you guys met before?" Hannah said, her eyes open so wide that it was kind of difficult for me to hold back my laughter. Luckily, the gravity of the situation kept me from doing so.

"Yes, and it pains me to say that I wasn't very amicable when we first met." Diana stood up and bent at the hip, bowing in front of Minne. "I sincerely apologize; my dislike was unfounded."

Minne quickly followed suit, and I noticed that she made sure to bow at the exact same angle Diana was at, and I found that incredibly adorable. "Ah, I was being unreasonably belligerent as well. I'm sorry, and I hope that we can put this behind us."

Diana's tense expression softened. "I'd love to."

As the two sat down with smiles on their faces, I couldn't hold back my glee. I turned to my right, arms wide open, and glomped my blue-haired friend. Cheek-to-cheek, I said, "Aw, I'm so glad you two made up! Your feud was eating away at me."

"Oi, you're squishing me!" I let go and had to hold back laughter at how flustered Minne looked. I guess she didn't appreciate me doing something so embarrassing in front of people she had just met.

"Let's just go get something to eat, you goober," Minne said, tugging not-so-gently on my collar. Annoying grin still plastered on my face, I relented, allowing myself to get dragged away from the table towards the entrance of the deli.

The deli itself wasn't anything special. It had the look and feel of a quaint place thanks to its decor, but judging by how colossal the tables were, it didn't receive the traffic of a quaint place. This was reflected inside; the place was absolutely packed with people munching on sandwiches. Luckily, the line didn't zip all the way around the place, so after a few minutes of twiddling my thumbs, I finally got to order my footlong.

"That'll be four ninety-nine," the clerk said as she punched in the numbers into her cash register.

After I stuck a hand into my pocket to fish out a bill, Minne slid in front of me, pulled out some cash, and said, "Here you go. Keep the change."

"Eh!" I was stunned as the blue-haired girl dropped my sandwich into my free hand. "You didn't have to do that!"

Minne's grin was cheeky with a capital C. "Hey, I wasn't lying when I said I'd cover your meal."

Okay, her sudden burst of generosity was starting to get a little out of hand. "You never did tell me why you're giving me so much. What's up?"

"It's nothing, Akko. I just haven't seen you in forever, and I don't know when the next opportunity will crop up, so I might as well spoil you rotten right now." Her statement sounded suspicious enough to file a warrant over, but I didn't feel like pressing because of the way she looked me in the eye as she said it. I didn't think she was lying.

So I let it drop. "Alright, alright. Let's just get back to the others."

We returned in the middle of a story Amanda was telling. She had her hands up, and she said in a falsetto tone, "P-public displays of a-affection are frowned upon in these halls. Unhand me a-at once!"

"Wow, who're you talking about? Sounds like a total square!" I said, taking my place next to the redhead. In response, she guffawed, tears and snot pouring like a torrent as she tried and failed to rein back her laughter. Didn't really make sense to me; I didn't think I said anything funny. I looked around, hoping to find answers to my unspoken question. The only noteworthy reaction was Diana's. The statement somehow caused blood to flood her cheeks, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get her to make eye contact with me. Oh boy, I hoped I didn't offend her. "Oh, was that your friend, Diana?"

Amanda lost it. She fell over, her laughter not stopping even as her cheek pressed against the hard pavement. Gasping for breath, the girl said, "A-akko, please do me a favor and never change!"

I got the feeling she was insulting me. Puffed cheeks, I said, "Hmph, no one ever tells me anything."

"Amanda's talking about the time you hugged Diana in the hallway two days ago," Sucy said, her voice ever monotone. I racked my head. I had a foggy memory of doing so. If I had to say, I hugged her because I had finally gotten a good score on one of Professor Finnegan's quizzes, and my success was all because of Diana. Oh, and because Diana's soft and cuddly and warm.

"Huh, I guess I did do that," I said. "Don't know why you guys are pointing it out. I do it all the time-"

"Please refrain from telling others about our tutoring time," Diana said, her voice sounding straight-edged in contrast to her visibly distraught expression.

"I only do it when I make a breakthrough though."

"That's enough," I heard from both Diana and Minne at the same time. The mood dropped instantly at the harshness of the latter's voice. I wondered why Minne was so cranky all of a sudden, with her furrowed brow and her deep frown. Maybe it was because she couldn't get to learn more about the others since they were too busy either laughing their hearts out or holding back their winces, though Minne wasn't the type to lose her composure over something so small. Minne said, "Akko, I was going to save this for later, but I think this it's better for your friends to hear this too."

"Oh, what's cookin'?" I said, taking a bite of my sandwich. Minne rose from her seat and got behind me. I made sure to pivot in order to face her. She audibly gulped. Her hand quivered as it hovered around her pocket. If I had looked closer, I would have seen the faint outline of what she had purchased when she left me at the novelty shop. After a moment that she had expanded into ten hours, she finally reached her hand into her pocket and fished out...

...a box.

She knelt in front of me.

"I know we're only sixteen," she said, my heart starting to race as sweat poured down my brow, "but after my exchange program, we'll be back to being leagues apart once again. I don't want to risk losing you. So Akko-"

"Minne."

She opened the box. Inside was a band of what seemed to be silver. It caught the sunlight about as well as how my throat caught that frog. "It's just a sterling silver promise ring - it's all I could afford - but I hope this shows you how much you mean to me. I love you, Akko, and I promise to stay devoted to you for as long as you'll allow."

I was floored. Quick glances to my left and right told me my friends were struck speechless too. Holy moly. My best friend since diapers was in love with me. It was all so sudden. I didn't know what to say. However, I didn't have to say anything since whatever I said would have been interrupted by the sudden loud thud from behind me. I craned my neck towards the disturbance. Diana, looking royally pissed, had her hands on the table, knocking over everything on it.

Diana spat, "I think I now understand why I instantly held a distaste towards you, Ms. Yagami."

"I think I know the reason behind my disdain as well." Minne closed the box with a harsh clap and stood up. "Speak now or forever hold your peace, Cavendish."

"You're forcing her into making a critical decision on such short notice. Hardly respectable."

"Akko," Minne directed at me, gesturing towards the ring box, "we can start by just being girlfriends if you think I'm being too forward - we don't need to go steady right away. It's just that it'll become a long-distance relationship soon, so I wanted a part of me to always be with you."

"Cheesy."

"No one asked you." Minne's voice was laced with venom: a harsh turn from how soft and velvety her voice was when she "proposed" to me. "So, Akko, what do you say?"

Minne was a constant for a lot of my life. She was there to lend an ear when I rambled on and on about my dreams, she was there when my studies had me waving the white flag; she was by my side, through thick and thin. I wouldn't know what I'd do without her.

...but if I searched my heart for my deepest, darkest desires, I knew I couldn't date her. She was physically attractive, and her personality was alluring, but since I had known her for so long, as much as it pained me to admit it, I saw her as a sister.

Besides, there was something I couldn't deny any longer.

I turned to look at Diana. I loved her. After hearing Minne expressed how she loved me, I realized I felt the same towards the platinum blonde. I wanted to hug her when she was stressed from her duties. I wanted to comfort her when she was tormented by memories of her past. I wanted to whisk her away when she described her parties and suitors.

When I thought of Minne, I remembered what she wanted to do for me. When I thought of Diana, I remembered what I wanted to do for her.

...But did she like me back?

I didn't know. She didn't return my hugs. She hated opening up to me. Outside our study sessions and fleeting glances and smiles, she never showed me obvious affection. Diana being in love with her duties was more likely than her being in love with me.

Minne, on the other hand, loved me. It felt a little scummy to think this, but if I threw myself into her arms, I could grow to love her; she was certainly charming and endearing enough. Plus, it might crush her to reject her in front of all my friends. If I became hers, maybe that would make us both happy.

I whispered a goodbye to Diana in my head. I turned back to face Minne. Her eyes caught the sunlight just like the ring. They were absolutely radiant. Licking my lips, I committed to my decision. "Minne, I-"

"I love you, Akko." Four words gave me goosebumps. Looking back at the blonde, her face was flushed, but her eyes held a fire I wasn't used to seeing the normally cold girl have. "I don't show it often, but I need you. Please, stay with me."

It warmed me to the core. She loved me back! However, slowly, the gravity of the situation hit me. If I put that ring on my finger, I would have crushed Diana, and if I rejected Minne, she'd be devastated as well.

Was there a way to leave this with both of them happy?

If there was, I wasn't smart enough to figure it out. I was going to have to send one of these girls home with a broken heart. I looked back and forth between Minne and Diana.

"You two," I said, mustering all my courage, "are both so important to me. I wouldn't know what to do without either of you. Man, you really put me on the spot, Minne."

I was met with silence. My attempt to lighten up the situation fell flat on its face. Minne's lips remained pursed, and looking behind me, I could still count the veins on Diana's forehead. Shaking that failure off, I stood up, causing Minne to flinch.

Looking her straight in the eyes, I said, "I'm sorry, Minne."

I rushed forward and gave her the warmest hug I could. After a few moments, I felt her slowly snake her arms around me, returning the hug. Her face sunk into the crook of my neck. She shivered. I felt tears soak my shoulder. My heart sank into my stomach. While I was sure of my decision, it didn't make me feel any better about Minne. She whispered into my ear, "I-I'll always have your back, Atsuko."

"And I've got yours, Mitsune." She backed away, and aside from a slight red tint in her eyes, she showed no signs of crying. "Still friends?"

"You betcha. I'll keep in touch. It's been nice meeting your friends." Facing away from me and the others, Minne walked away, her head held up high. "I'll see you around, Akko."

"See ya, Minne," I said, waving even though she couldn't see it. I didn't want to have to hurt her. I turned around and was met with somber looks all around. Even Hannah and Barbara looked sorry for me. I tried again to liven up the mood, flashing a weak smile as Diana made her way over.

I cried in her arms.

* * *

 **Hi. And so ends the story. I hope my train of thought wasn't too convoluted near the end; it's three AM here, so that may have affected me a little. If some parts were confusing, I'll try to rewrite those bits within the week. More importantly, I'm not sure if I should add an epilogue, but I'm considering it since the ending is a bit unsatisfying. (To be honest, my first idea was even worse; I was going to say that Akko's straight and crush both Minne and Diana, but I decided against that.) Oh well, I hope I don't get burned too hard by this ending. Anyway, if you want an epilogue, please say so in a review or something. Not sure when that's coming, since it isn't even outlined, but it should be out within a month if you guys still want one.**


End file.
